Maria Rosaria Melis currently works at the Department
of Biomedical Science, Università degli studi di
Cagliari. Maria does research in Neuroscience. Their
current project is "Role of oxytocin in the Bed nucleus
of the stria terminalis in the control of sexual
behaviour" and "Effect of toxic substances in the
substantia nigra neuronal circuiters and their
involvement in the appareance of motor deficits".

Sexual behavior plays a fundamental role for
reproduction in mammals and other animal species. It is
characterized by an anticipatory and a consummatory
phase, and several copulatory parameters have been
identified in each phase, mainly in rats. Sexual behavior
varies significantly across rats even when they are of
the same strain and reared under identical
conditions.

This review shows that rats of the same strain
selectively bred for showing a divergent behavioral trait
when exposed to stress or novelty (i.e. Roman high and
low avoidance rats, bred for their different avoidance
response to the shuttle box, and high and low novelty
exploration responders rats, bred for their different
exploratory response to a novel environment) or a
spontaneous behavior with divergent frequency (i.e. low
and high yawning frequency rats, bred for their divergent
yawning frequency) show similar differences in sexual
behavior, mainly in copulatory pattern, but also in
sexual motivation.

As shown by behavioral pharmacology and intracerebral
microdialysis experiments carried out mainly in Roman
rats, these sexual differences may be due to a more
robust dopaminergic tone present in the mesocorticolimbic
dopaminergic system of one of the two sub-lines (e.g.
high avoidance, high novelty exploration, and low yawning
rat sub-lines). Thus, differences in genotype and/or
in prenatal/postnatal environment lead not only to
individual differences in temperament and
environmental/emotional reactivity but also in sexual
behavior. Because of the highly conserved mechanisms
controlling reproduction in mammals, this may occur not
only in rats but also in humans.

The neurobiological
insights gained from premonitory symptoms in
migraine

Migraine is a common neurological disorder with a
diverse clinical phenotype that comprises more than just
head pain. Premonitory (prodromal) symptoms can start
hours to days before the onset of a migraine headache and
can predict its onset in some individuals. Such
symptomatology can include lethargy, yawning, light and
sound sensitivity, thirst and cravings.

This earliest phase of the migraine attack provides
valuable insights into the neurobiology of the disorder,
furthering our understanding of how and why these
phenotypically heterogeneous symptoms are mediated.
Improvements in our understanding of migraine could
provide novel therapeutic opportunities, with the
possibility of closing the therapeutic gap that remains
owing to a lack of sufficiently effective and
well-tolerated acute and preventive treatments.

Improved understanding of disease mechanisms and
potential therapeutic targets through bench-to-bedside
research into the premonitory phase is an exciting and
emerging means of achieving this aim going forward. In
this Review, the authors discuss the current evidence in
the literature in relation to the phenotype and mediation
of premonitory symptoms in migraine, and discuss the
neurobiological insights gained from these studies.

Marin Cureau de La
Chambre (1594-1669) was a physician from Le
Mans who advised and treated two French Kings, Louis XIII
and Louis XIV, as well as his patron, Chancellor Pierre
Séguier. As both a physician and a philosopher, he
was among the first members of the Académie
Française and the Académie des Sciences.
His key role in dethroning Latin and using French in its
place would have sufficed to ensure his notoriety, as
French then became a vehicle for disseminating the
sciences throughout Europe. However, it was his
interpretation of "the functions of the soul" that made
him a true pioneer in the field of neuropsychology, even
though he has since been forgotten and overlooked.
Indeed, he developed concepts that even today seem
contemporary, in particular, concepts dealing with
emotions and memory in both animals and human
beings.

The 19th Century brought many medical advances and
discoveries in neurology, with the famed Parisian La
Salpêtrière hospital at its center. Medical
giants such as Jean-Martin Charcot, Joseph Babinski, and
even for a short time Sigmund Freud, walked these halls,
so it is a wonder that, an equal among these men, very
little exists in the literature on Georges Gilles de la
Tourette.

This biography is the first comprehensive volume to
delve into the life, scholarship, writing, and hobbies of
the famed doctor. In Part One, we learn Georges' family
history, follow his schooling and mentorship under
Charcot, travel to the Worlds Fair of 1900, evade an
attempted assassination, all before succumbing to death
by syphilis. Part Two provides an in-depth analysis of
his neurological and psychiatric works, notably the
epynomous neurological disorder that will forever remain
"Tourette's Syndrome." Part Three looks at the lighter
side of Georges, inspecting his favorite past-times as
poet, historian, and art critic. Part Four brings an
extensive bibliography of Georges' complete body of
work.

Author Olivier Walusinski pulls together unpublished
family archives, Georges' correspondence with the
Parisian journalist Georges Montorgueil, journal
articles, and police archives to shed an original light
on the famed doctor's life and lasting legacy. These
archives have never before been studied or made available
to the public, making this one of the first and most
comprehensive biographies available and a must-have for
any medical library.